Oh, Christmas tree. This holiday season staple is fun for the whole family — until a glass ornament falls or a branch starts to burn. Keep yours looking beautiful, bright, and safe with these tips.

Related

Trimming the tree is arguably one of the most fun
parts of Christmastime, but having one in your home also poses some serious
health and safety threats. Imagine your Christmas tree, on which you spent
hours carefully stringing lights and placing your favorite ornaments, tipping
over at the hand, er, paw, of your favorite four-legged friend, or worse,
catching fire from contact with a nearby candle.

To keep your family healthy and safe, brush up on
these Christmas tree safety tips before you start rocking around it.

Don’t
start a fire. Christmas tree fires are one of the most
serious holiday hazards. U.S. fire departments responded to about 240 Christmas
tree-related home fires per year between 2005 and 2009, according to the most
recent statistics from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). About
20 percent were due to having the tree too close to a heat source, such as a fireplace or portable heater; a third were caused by electrical problems (think shorting
out an old extension cord); and 11 percent started with candles.

To avoid turning your Christmas tree into kindling,
the National Safety Council recommends making sure artificial trees are tested
and labeled “fire resistant.” Most artificial Christmas trees today are made
with a durable plastic called PVC, which is inherently fire-resistant,
according to the American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA), so be sure to
check the label.

If you’re one of the U.S. Fire Administration-tallied 33 million families bringing home a natural tree, make sure it’s fresh!
On first glance, the color says a lot. For freshness (and hey, aesthetics too)
you’ll want it to be green, not browning. To the touch, the pine needles should
bend, not break off, and the trunk should be sticky from sap — the
sappier, the better. Keep the tree fresh at home by placing it in a
water-holding stand. And remember to water it! In 2010, the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) tested Christmas tree fires based on
moisture content. The results, which they released in a
short video, showed it
takes only seconds for a dry tree to burst than a flames and just over a
minute for the fire to consume it completely. When researchers put a flame to a
well-watered tree, however, a fire ignited but quickly died without any damage.

Whether or not you’ve bought a natural or
artificial Christmas tree, make sure to place it in a safe spot in your home.
Keep it away from lamps, open flames, and heaters. Make sure you hang only
indoor lights, not outdoor ones, on the tree, and check the lights for broken or
frayed wires. Finally, the National Safety Council suggests using no more than
three light sets on a single extension cord, which should be placed against a
wall but not under a rug. Much like a hot laptop on a bed, when covered by a rug,
a cord is more prone to overheating and sparking. Remember to unplug all lights
before going to sleep each night. Never leave the tree lights “on” overnight. And please,
don’t hang real candles on the tree. It may look pretty in illustrated children’s
books, but it’s very dangerous.

Breathe
easy. While evergreen trees themselves don’t usually
irritate allergies or asthma, they can potentially hold
onto tiny mold spores that make those prone to mold allergies itch and sneeze,
according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAI).

Opting for an artificial tree is the only surefire
way to avoid this, but if you’re set on having the real thing, the AAAI
suggests keeping the tree out of the house (someplace dry like a garage or an
indoor porch) for up to a week to let it dry out and eliminate mold. You should
also shake the tree well before moving it inside. The same goes for any real
wreaths placed throughout the house.

Hang
tight. Decorating the tree may be a beloved holiday tradition,
but it can lead to dangerous falls, especially if you have a tall tree or don’t
use the right stepstool or ladder for the job. According to data from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 17,000 people were
treated in hospitals for winter holiday decorating-related falls over a
three-year period; 43 percent of the injuries were due to falls from ladders
and men were 40 percent more likely than women to be injured.

Always have a spotter when you hang ornaments and
string lights, and use a sturdy stool or ladder that’s opened properly, not a
sofa or wobbly chair.

To protect those precious ornaments, use this rule
of thumb: The more valuable the ornament, the higher it goes on the tree —
essential advice if you have kids and/or pets. Place glass and other easily
breakable ornaments on the top branches and make sure they’re tightly secured
so they don’t fall. Keeping ornaments secure is all about the hooks and the
hook-to-ornament-weight-ratio. For example, don’t hang the heavy ceramic one
your aunt gave you on a flimsy piece of yarn. You may have to buy an extra pack
of hooks at the craft store, preferably metal, S-shaped ones you can wrap around
the branch and pinch together to secure the ornament in place.

Keep
an eye on Fido. Christmas trees may pose unique risks to
your family’s furry friends. The water in the tree
holder often contains fertilizers and bacteria which, according to the American
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), can upset your pet’s
stomach. And if ingested, ornaments, ribbons, and tinsel can obstruct their
intestines, leading to vomiting and other stomach issues that may need surgery to
correct. And as fun as it is to string popcorn or cereal around the tree
branches, you would only be tempting a pet to eat it. Not only does this mean
your pet would think it’s fine to eat all of the ornaments,
but there’s also a greater chance the animal could knock down the entire tree. Cue
broken glass and subsequent injuries, or even a fire if the tree crosses paths
with a candle during its fall. Parents, same goes for crawling and toddling babies.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

Advertising Notice

This Site and third parties who place advertisements on this Site may collect and use information about
your visits to this Site and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of
interest to you. If you would like to obtain more information about these advertising practices and to make
choices about online behavioral advertising, please click here.